Sisters in the Sky – first time in Asia now with Chinese pilots 28th October 2019 at the Danish Cultural Center – Beijing – China. SISTERS in the sky Beijng 2019. From the dawn of times, the dream of defeating gravity and imitating the birds over land and sea has prompted men and women to courageous actions. In western mythology, Icarius turned the back to his father’s advise and burned his wings when trying to reach for the sun. In Chinese mythology, Chang’e had to forsake her husband to be able to go to the moon. For 25 years, the notion of flying has held a central position in Simone Aaberg Kærn’s oeuvre. Whether in film and video works, installations or in performances, she has worked with it as a metaphor for individual freedom and airspace as a mind-set for unlimited access to take control of your own life. In her own words, flying is “a rhythmic experience that calls on all senses and brings all parts of the brain into action.” Kærn’s obsession with flying is particularly apparent in the series Sisters In The Sky, a work in progress that goes back to 1997. The initial version was originally exhibited at the 48th international Venice Biennale, dAPERTutto, in Venice in 1999 and consisted of 45 painted portraits based on photographs of WWII female pilots in Soviet, British and American service. In order to gain access to those still alive, Kærn had to earn her flight certificate, as these elderly women would have difficulty in relating to a young student of art let alone sharing their experiences. The result is an impressive aesthetic and intellectual statement of how women have realized their dream of flying in times of prejudice, hardship, and technical challenges. The...
Sisters in the Sky – VIDEO Hero remix 30 min 1999...
Sisters in the Sky – the original from 1999 was 4 x 29 minutes here you can watch the Hero Remix it’s 30 minutes and in 4 parts. – by Simone Aaberg Kærn and Stine Kirstein. Produced by DR-TV/ Zentropa. This part is the beginning of the special cut -This version: Sisters hero remix is only 30 minutes. The original Sisters in the Sky was 4 x 29 minutes public service TV produced for the Danish Broadcast Corporation and Zentropa. Simone Aaberg Kærn, in the early 1990s, began working with projects relating to surveillance and control. This, however, soon turned into a fascination for the unreachable and impossible task of floating: flying in the space. Through animated flying videos, such as Air (1994), wanna fly (1995), and Royal Greenland (196), Simone Aaberg Kærn investigated and soon found a symbolic free space in the air. At first, it was animated spaces, in which she flew across the skies of Copenhagen, New York and Greenland seeking the limits of gravity and individual unassisted human flight. Soon after Simone Aaberg Kærn achieved her own flight certificate in order to produce the work, Sisters in the Sky. This was demanded by Anne Noggle, one of the female pilots, who also was portrayed in the work Sisters in the Sky (1997). Simone Aaberg Kærn’s painted portraits of female fighter pilots from Second World War was shown at and acquired by Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk. Sisters in the Sky is an impressive aesthetic and intellectual peephole of how women at that time could realize their dream of flying in a time of hardship. In the painting and sound installation, Simone Aaberg Kærn narrated their stories with a poetic, political and feministic gesture and introduced the...
Power kvinder
når kunst flytter grænser
PowerKvinder! – når kunst flytter grænser
Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen, duoen Randi & Katrine, Simone Aaberg Kærn og Kirsten Justesen
Særudstillingen byder på viltre, vilde og livsglade kvindelige kunstnere med Power gennem 150 år. Disse kunstnere har markeret sig både kunstnerisk og i samfundsdebatten og derfor kan deres kunst inspirere os. Udstillingen viser, hvordan kvindelige kunstnere har bidraget til udvikling af nye former for billedsprog, og samtidig søgt efter sammenhæng mellem deres kvindelige verden, identitet og samfund.
Forholdet mellem køn, identitet og kunst er til evig debat – kom og oplev hvordan fire kvindelige samtidskunstnere: Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen, duoen Randi & Katrine, Simone Aaberg Kærn og Kirsten Justesen – går i dialog med museets egen samling af kvindelige kunstnere.
Med særudstillingen vil kunstmuseet gerne præsentere kvindelige kunstneres gennemslagskraft og evne til gennem kunstens udtryk – at flytte på vedtagne grænser.
The Role of Women in Global Security
Conference, CPH
Skysisters Simone Aaberg Kærn and Latifa Nabizada participated and helped with Logistics, Content and Love to the Women in Global Security Conference in Copenhagen.
FIGHTING for a LIVING
Afghanistan
8 min. documentary made for the Danish Foreign Ministery/ DANIDA by SImone Aaberg Kærn and UMANO films. The story of Latifa and her sister Lailuma fight for becomming fighter pilots. It’s a short documentary about the tuff reality in Afghanistan and about how strong women deal with life. Footage shot in Afghanistan 2003 and 2009 by SImone Aaberg Kærn also private recordings by Latifa Nabizada and family....
Seize the Sky
Symposium on ART, Gender and Military
Seize the Sky – Symposium on ART, Gender and Military. With special Guest Col. Latifa Nabizada Helicopter Pilot in the Afghan Air Force with a mission to get more afghan women flying.
AROS
Performance
Fly performance, udført af Simone Aaberg Kærn og Århus politi fra domhuset til AROS.
SISTERS OF THE RED STAR...
video/sound-installation
3 channel Video installation with sound, made from the original research material to SISTERS IN THE SKY- paintings. Recordings from visit to MOSCOV 1996 and Archive footage.
Was displayed at OPEN SKY malmø Konsthall and OPEN SKY Kunstmuseum Thun.
smiling in a war zone
The movie
As an artist Simone has always been obsessed with female fighter pilots. These old ladies challenged her to become a pilot. She succeeded and so became one of the ‘Sisters in the Sky’, now she hopes Farial will join. She decides to look for a plane and buys the only one she can afford: a 40-year old ‘Donald Duck’ Piper-Colt made out of canvas.
Simone: “hings do look different from above, it becomes easier to navigate in life, when you have seen the larger picture.” She also states that, “since 9/11 the skies are occupied and they should again be liberated and free.”
On the way she visits an adventurous female fighter pilot squadron in Turkey seeking top tuned helpers for her mission. But problems loom: her tiny plane can fly only for 3 hours on a full tank and according to the manual it will never fly high enough to cross the Afghan mountains. Bosnia and Iran reject her request to fly over their countries and the Pentagon says that Afghanistan is a war zone and not open for pleasure flights.
After challenging every military authority she comes across, weeks of travelling, 50 hours in the air, 33 landings, and in the end, flying illegally into Afghanistan at nerve wrecking heights, Simone finally reaches Kabul and finds Farial. To Afghani standard she is a modern English speaking girl. Simone even manages to take Farial into the sky, but then there is the harsh landing into the reality of the 1000 year old Afghan family clan-society.
SISTERS IN THE SKY
the documentary
Sisters in the sky – en roadmovie fra luften, TV dokumentary 4 x 28:30′ by Simone Aaberg Kærn og Stine Kirstein DR/Zentropa produktions 1998 – 1999
Two Danish girls fly across America in a tiny airplane (the size of a phonebooth) to rendezvous with four American women who served as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) in World War II.
Production Co: Zentropa Entertainments